Stage 24 hour strikes. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. Six people have been killed after a seaplane crashed into a river north of sydney its thought four of the victims may be british. Police say the plane was on a sightseeing flight ahead of new Year Celebrations at Sydney Harbour bridge to the bodies of five passengers and the pilot have been recovered from the wreckage. An confirmed reports say an 11 year old boy is among those killed. Officers say they dont know yet why the plane went down. Officers say they dont yet know why the plane went down. For reasons that are not known at this stage, the plane had hit the water, and it has subsequently sunk. It is sitting in approximately 13 metres of water. At the time of the collision, the plane had a pilot and five passengers on board. I can confirm the six people on the plane are deceased. I do not have details, or cannot confirm, the identity or ages of the people on the plane. It is early in the investigation, and we are working with the plane company, bringing investigators here to confirm the identities, and investigate why the plane crashed into the water. Abcs nour haydar has been at the scene earlier i asked her what is known about the crash so far. At the moment, police have not been able to give us any details about what they have been able to ascertain from witnesses. They are urging anyone who was a witness, or anyone who may have been filming, to pass that information over to police. When asked about the identities of victims, police were not able to confirm if any were indeed foreign nationals, but investigators will arrive at the scene tomorrow morning to begin retrieving the wreckage and working out what happened and what caused the crash to happen. They have released a Statement Today a short while ago, saying that while the sequence of events is not fully understood, it appears that when the plane struck the water, it quickly sunk. We do know that all six passengers died. Sorry, all five passengers died, and the sixth person was the pilot. The accident happened shortly after 3pm australian time. Police divers have retrieved the bodies from the wreckage. Just to clarify, the crash happened as the plane was coming into land, is that correct . Police have not been able to tell us the sequence of events. It seems there was no warning time. It was a fairly quick incident and initial investigations indicate that once it struck the water, it sank rapidly. We dont know exactly what happened before that. The wreckage is in a fairly bad way and remained submerged. The journey that this plane was on, is this a popular sightseeing trip . We do know that the people on board the plane were on the same flight earlier in the day. They were in a national park, which sits along the river north of sydney. They went on the flight, had lunch, and were returning when the crash happened. Criminal gangs who claim benefits under a false identity are to be targeted by the government using Artificial Intelligence. The department for work and pensions says it will use sophisticated Computer Programming to identify organised attacks. Ian palmer reports. Job centre plus staff identify suspicious benefit fraud in individuals but its much harder to notice broad patterns of behaviour across thousands of benefit applications, an indication of organised criminal activity. Often, gangs making repeated applications using Fake Identities tend to leave traces such as using the same phrase when stating what theyve done to try and find work. By monitoring thousands of applications using Artificial Intelligence, it should be easier to detect organised benefit fraud. What we will be able to do using ai is identify some of those networks, for example, see patterns of behaviour like shared addresses or the same telephone numbers being used. They will be able to identify that more easily in a way that will enable us to stop that from happening and protect taxpayers money. The Artificial Intelligence software has been developed by the department for work and pensions. The idea has been put through a series of trials. The dwp says the Computer Programme will be slowly rolled out across the country. Introducing the technology is an attempt to recoup more of the £3 billion paid by mistake or fraudulently claimed each year. The changes will affect people who claim universal credit, jobseekers allowance and personal independence payments. Ian palmer, bbc news. Demonstrators in iran have been warned theyll face the nations iron fist if the political unrest there continues. The revolutionary guards issued the ultimatum after days of protests intensified. On saturday two people were reported to have been shot dead in the city of dorud. The government blamed foreign agents for their deaths. The protests which began over Living Standards and rising food prices have spread to several major cities, including tehran. Jon ironmonger reports. A crack of gunshots as panic ripples through a crowd in the western city dorud. Later, a wounded man is carried through the streets. It is reported a number of people have been killed following an escalation of violence and three days of unrest. Late into the night, demonstrators attacked targets with links to the government and the ruling clerical elite. In karamabad, the Governors Office was burned. In the Northern City of a mashhad, Police Motorbikes were set alight while crowds taunted the security services. What started as a provincial process about rocketing prices has become deeply political and moved to the capital tehran, where officers were pelted with stones near the main university. Riot police were used to quell the disturbance. This video shows a baby being taken to hospital, apparently suffering from the effects of tear gas. Videos shared on social media are helping to fuel the protest. It is thought the iranian authorities have reacted by cutting access to the internet in many cities, especially to mobile phones. Iranian officials have vowed on state tv to double their efforts to resolve the economic problems and ploughed ahead with commemorative pro government rallies on saturday. But further protests are expected over the coming days and experts say opposing the Islamic Republic will be a colossal challenge. Do not underestimate the repressive capability of the revolutionary guards, the resiliency of the Islamic Republic. This regime is well institutionalised in iran and can deal with protest movement such as the one that we have witnessed in the past few days. Irans ultraconservative regime is facing its biggest threat in nearly a decade, but what lengths will it go to to survive . Thousands of rail travellers face disruption to theirjourneys today as workers from two Train Companies stage 24 hour strikes. Members of the rmt union on South Western Railway and crosscountry are taking action in disputes involving the role of guards, and rosters and sunday working. Anisa kadri is at london busiest station waterloo for us now. Normally, it would be getting pretty busy around this time but how much impactare busy around this time but how much impact are the strikes having . M busy around this time but how much impact are the strikes having . It is filling up here now but really, you may know where you are going for new years eve celebrations, but how you are getting there and getting back maybe a different story. In the station posters are up saying there will be disruption this new years eve. Some the specifics. Services to and from london waterloo are disrupted, bearing in mind these are trains that take you from london into surrey, hampshire and berkshire among other places. There will be reduced services on most lines and no services on others. Trains to walking are affected. A quarter of trains are not expected to run. There are problems Cross Country with a reduced service between newcastle and edinburgh. While services between edinburgh and aberdeen are not running at all. This is because of rmt members who say that this is the only way that they will be listened to over safety concerns about driver only trains, they want guards to be on those trains to keep people safe, they say. The government says they are just causing misery for people and the Rail Companies have caused this strike unnecessarily. Thank you for that update. Auckland in new zealand has become the first major city to celebrate the beginning of 2018. The city rung in the new year with its traditional firework display from the auckland sky tower. Around 3,000 fireworks lit up the night sky, lasting for more than five minutes. But the bar for the rest of the worlds biggest displays is likely to be set by sydney, which will celebrate at 1pm uk time. Well bring that to you live here on bbc news. The un secretary general has called for global unity in his new years message. Antonio guterres urged leaders to bringing people together around common goals. He also expressed his concerns about deepening conflicts and violations of human rights. An new years day 2018, im not issuing an appeal, im issuing a red alert for our world. New dangers have emerged. Global anxieties about Nuclear Weapons are the highest since the cold war and Climate Change is moving faster than we are. Inequalities are growing and we see violations of human rights. We have seen xenophobia on the rise and into 2018i seen xenophobia on the rise and into 20181 call for unity. We can make our world more safe and secure and settle conflicts if we share values but we can only do that together. Time for the sport. Heres katherine downes. One of the two premier League Fixtures of the day already underway, Manchester City kicked off 15 minutes ago against Crystal Palace at selhurst park. A win away today for city can take them 16 points clear and equal the highest number of consecutive victories by teams in europes top leagues, a record set by Pep Guardiola himself went with by munich. In the premier league, chelsea have moved up to second after a 5 0 thrashing of stoke, which piles more pressure on their manager mark hughes. Antonio rudiger had given the home side a lead before a super strike from danny drinkwater, his first for chelsea, to double the lead afterjust fifteen minutes. It was an emphatic display from Chelsea Davide Zappacosta scored their fifth to ensure an imprssive end to 2017 for chelsea. Theyve now won five of their last six games. Liverpool came from behind to hold onto fourth place jamie vardy had given leicester a first half lead but liverpools saviour came in the form of, who else, but mo salah as he scored after the break. His second, and his 17th league goal of the season, came fifteen minutes from time to hand liverpool an important three points. In this little guy sleeps a nice big striker. He wants to score, hes strong how he comes into these situations. He misses chances but he wants to score all the time so thats good. I saw him limping afterwards, we have to check it. Then we try to change as quickly as possible now. There was a winning start for new swansea manager carlos ca rvalhal his side came from behind to beat watford 2 1. They were trailing 1 0 in the 86th minute but scored two in quick succession. It lifts swansea off the foot of the table and carvalhal says their belief is now stronger. The bbc understands that Nottingham Forest have sacked their manager mark warburton. It follows forests 1 0 defeat to sunderland yesterday, forest are currently 14th in the championship table. Its understood director of football Frank Mcparland has also been sacked. Gary brazil is to take over as caretaker manager while forest look to appoint a replacement. Englands cricketers have arrived in sydney ahead of the fifth and final ashes test which begins in four days time. England wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow has given his backing to all rounder moeen ali saying he remains in their best 11. Moeen has only taken three wickets and averaged 19 runs with the bat this series. Bairstow says he has a lot to bring to the team. I think its unquestionable to even think that hes not in the best 11. He wouldnt have played the first four test matches if he wasnt. Not many finger spinners come to australia and bowl teams out. Its very important to get behind him. He can take the game away from you. Anthonyjoshua has told the bbc that a deal to fight wbo championjoshua parkeris a deal to fight wbo championjoshua parker is nearly done. Parker has been holding out for a bigger share of the fights pers, believed to be 35 cent. Joshua is also targeting Deontay Wilders title. |j 35 cent. Joshua is also targeting Deontay Wilders title. I wont let negotiations get in the way of securing my legacy and what i want to achieve in the sport. We are 95 of the way towards competing with joseph parker. It still 00 between Manchester City and Crystal Palace at selhurst park. Thats all from me. More in the next hour. Political leaders have been reflecting on the past 12 months in their new years messages, with theresa may calling 2017 a year of progress for the uk. The labour Leaderjeremy Corbyn said the hope of a new britain is closer than ever. With more heres our political correspondent, emma va rdy. After a Political Year dominated by brexit, its no surprise the subject played a key part in theresa mays new years message. She said the government has pursued our brexit objectives with steady purpose and progress will continue in 2018 as the talks move on to trade. But not for the first time, theresa may made clear she wants to be more than madame brexit. Making success of brexit is crucial but it will not be the limit of our ambitions. We also have to carry on making a difference here and now on the issues that matter to peoples daily lives. That means building an economy fit for the future and taking a balanced approach to government spending. So we get our debt falling but can also invest in the things that matter our schools, our police and our precious nhs. Theresa may says next year will continue the fight against all forms of extremism and she believes 2018 can be a year of renewed pride in our country. Meanwhile, the tone ofjeremy corbyns address was rather different. He said we are being held back by a self serving elite and pointed to the gains labour made at the general election, saying this was a year when people said, no more. The old political consensus is finished. We are staking out the new Centre Ground in british politics, backing the things that most people want but are blocked by vested interests. We are a government in waiting while the conservatives are weak, divided and stuck in an outdated rut with no new ideas. The hope of a new britain, which runs in the interests of the many, not the few, is closer than ever before. The new year messages brought to a close what has been politically a dramatic 12 months. Emma vardy, bbc news. Earlier i spoke to emma and she explained a little more about the significance of the parties new year messages. These are pretty typical addresses from conservatives and labour in the new year. Theresa may presenting the government as a stable force to steer the country towards exiting from the eu. The reality is brexit continues to divide voters. I wonder how many arguments were had over christmas about brexit. In reality, there is never going to be a smooth course for brexit. Lots of battles ahead, moving to stage two of the talks, talking about trade in the new year, also the withdrawal bill, going into the house of lords, lots of battles to come there. Already cross party plans to try to defeat the government there. Plenty of hurdles ahead in reality. We saw the tone ofjeremy corbyns address, presenting the labour party as a government in waiting. They are trying to capitalise on the feel good factor that came to labour supporters after the general election in which they made a lot of unexpected gains. In reality, they need to build more trust and credibility with voters on areas like the economy to really become a force. Ben wallace directed at social media companies, just an idea but not a policy, perhaps the government could levy a tax on them if they dont comply or make greater efforts to help deal with the threat of terrorism in the uk. Has there been any response . A new idea put forward by the security minister ben wallace. Not the first time weve seen tech firms hauled over the coals because of extremist material on their platforms. Ministers have really ramped up the pressure. Google and twitter say they are doing much more to tackle this content but ministers still say it doesnt go far enough. Ben wallace talked in pretty strong terms to the sunday times today saying they are ruthless profiteers. In the last hour, we have had a response from google and facebook on this. Facebook say he is wrong to say they put profit before safety especially in the fight against terrorism. They have invested millions of pounds in people and technology to remove terror content. Google have also said that it is a complex problem that they are committed to being part of the solution for. It is fair to say that Tech Companies have stepped up their efforts this year using things like Artificial Intelligence to spot and take down extremist content but there isnt a quick fix. Not everyone agrees on what material should stay up and should be removed so we are going to continue to see this battle between tech firms and ministers in the months to come. Emma, thank you very much. In a moment well be joined by viewers on bbc one for the latest headlines and in around ten minutes time, well be bringing you a special programme looking at rare Archive Footage of part